TOPEKA, Kan. -- No. 3-ranked Washburn volleyball begins its MIAA slate this week on the road, first at Fort Hays State on Sept. 17, before a top-three showdown at No. 1-ranked Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 18.

FIRST SERVE …
>> The Ichabods went 3-1 last weekend at the Mountain Lion Invitational and hold an overall record of 8-1, with their only loss coming to No. 15 Colorado School of Mines.
>> The Tigers are off to a 5-3 start and won three of four matches at their home invitational last weekend.
>> Nebraska-Kearney moved up to the No. 1 spot in the latest AVCA rankings with a perfected 8-0 mark.

QUICK HITS …
>> As a team, the Ichabods have a conference-leading .334 hitting percentage, which also ranks third in the nation.
>> The Ichabods have also recorded 447 total kills, the fifth-most in Division II.
>> Since Chris Herron took over the program in 2002, Washburn is 3-4 when playing the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
>> The last time the Ichabods defeated the No. 1 team was at home against Nebraska-Kearney on Sept. 15, 2018 when an unranked Washburn team defeated the Lopers in four sets.
>> Washburn went 10-1 in true road matches in 2019.
>> The Ichabods also finished with an 18-2 mark in MIAA action.
>> Rottinghaus passed 2,000 career digs last week and is third on Washburn's all-time list. Molly Smith (2007-10)  is second with 2,092 digs and the Washburn record holder Erica Cowhick (2004-07) with 2,464 digs.
>> Allison Maxwell, Sydney Fitzgibbons, and Kelsey Gordon are the top-three leaders in the MIAA for hitting percentage.

IN THE RANKINGS …
>> The Ichabods moved up one place in the most recent AVCA rankings to No. 3 in the nation.
>> Washburn was ranked third for five weeks during 2019.
>> Four of the top-15 teams in the latest AVCA poll are from the MIAA.
>> Washburn is already 2-1 against opponents ranked in the top-20 so far this season.
>> Last season, the Ichabods faced a tough schedule and went 4-4 against opponents ranked in the top-25. Six of those opponents were ranked in the top-10.

MIAA DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK …
>> Faith Rottinghaus was named the MIAA Defensive Athlete of the Week on Sept. 13.
>> She passed the 2,000 career digs milestone last week as she helped the Ichabods to a 3-1 record at the Mountain Lion Invitational.
>> She averaged 5.29 digs/set in four matches and scooped up 20 digs against No. 15 Colorado School of Mines to reach the milestone.
>> Rottinghaus was also named to the all-tournament team and finished the weekend with 74 digs, 57 receptions with zero errors, five service aces with one error in 48 total attempts, and eight assists.

LAST TIME OUT …
>> The Ichabods opened the Mountain Lion Invitational with a four set win over Lubbock Christian.
>> Washburn then posted back-to-back shutout victories over Texas A&M International and William Jewell.
>> In the tournament finale, the Ichabods were tripped up by No. 15 Colorado School of Mines for a 3-1 loss.
>> Washburn trailed 2-0 in the match, but fought back for a 25-16 third set win to stay alive.
>> The Orediggers, however, held off the Ichabod come back and won the fourth set, 25-20.
>> Genna Berg led the team in kills in three of the four matches and finished the weekend with 48 kills and 32 digs.
>> Maxwell knocked down 34 kills and had 17 blocks, including five solo blocks.
>> Gordon also had five solo blocks and 34 kills.

TEAM LEADERS …
>> Berg: Leads the team with 109 kills (3.52/set) with a .321 attacking percentage and has recorded two double-doubles so far this season.
>> Maxwell: Holds a conference-best .453 attacking percentage with 84 kills. Is also third in the conference with 34 total blocks. In the sweep over William Jewell, Maxwell had nine kills on 12 attempts with one error for a .667 hitting percentage.
>> Rottinghaus: Averages 5.23 digs/set and leads the league with 162 total digs. She has landed a team-high 13 service aces and had three in a row in against William Jewell.
>> Gordon: Is third on the team with 71 kills and second in blocks with 24 overall. Had two double-digit kill matches at the Mountain Lion Invitational with 13 against Lubbock Christian and 11 versus Colorado Mines.
>> Jalyn Stevenson: Recorded a career-high 10 kills against Lubbock Christian and has tallied 53 on the season. She is also second on the team with 11 service aces.
>> Allison Sadler: Averages 7.43 assists per set and had 37 against the Orediggers to go with eight digs.

MILESTONE TRACKER …
>> Maxwell needs 23 more kills to reach 1,000 and become the 23rd Washburn player to achieve the milestone.
>> Maxwell is nearing another record as she needs 47 more total blocks to be one of five players in Washburn's history to record 1,000 kills and 400 total blocks.
>> In 55 more digs, Berg will enter Washburn's history books as the 10th player to have 1,000 career kills and digs.
>> In addition to Rottinghaus' milestone achievement, several other Ichabods hit notable career milestones:
>> Gordon surpassed 500 career kills and is now at 520.
>> Fitzgibbons reached the century mark in kills and has tallied 120 in her career.
>> Sadler moved up to sixth on Washburn's all-time assists record list as she passed the 2,500 mark. She now has 2,564 assists in her career.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION ...
Fort Hays State Tigers
>> The Tigers are 5-3 overall this season and have won four of their last five matches.
>> The team averages a .213 attacking percentage and holds their opponents to a .160 clip.
>> Riley Tinder is the team's leading scorer with 69 kills (2.56 kills/set) and she also third on the team with 2.48 digs per set.
>> Elysia Glowacz (5.33 assists/set) and Jaida Felix (4.27 assists/set) split time as the team's setter.
>> Defensively, the Tigers are third in the MIAA with 2.19 blocks/set and are led by Emily Ellis' 31 total blocks, including five solo stops.
>> The Ichabods are on a nine-match winning streak against the Tigers and lead the series, 49-46. Washburn is 18-12 when playing the match in Hays.

Nebraska-Kearney Lopers
>> The Lopers are currently 8-0 and are coming off a 38-1 NCAA National Championship runner-up season in 2019.
>> UNK is holding its opponents to a .097 attacking percentage and has outscore those teams 651-448.
>> Maddie Squiers leads the conference and is sixth in the nation in assists per set, averaging 11.19 per set.
>> Her sister, Anna Squiers, leads the team with 64 kills and 25 total blocks.
>> Asha Regler is close behind with 61 kills.
>> Washburn trails in the all-time series, 37-12, and has only won one of its eight road matches at Kearney.
>> Rick Squiers is in his 22nd year at the helm for Nebraska-Kearney and held a 675-89 record coming into this season. He is also 375-20 when the Lopers play at home.

2021 SQUAD …
>> There are 13 Ichabods returning from the 2019 squad and they lost just two letterwinners from that team.
>> Ten seniors will take the court for their final season and are joined by two juniors, two sophomores, and one redshirts freshman.
>> Washburn added four freshmen in 2020 and three more for this fall.
>> Two transfer student-athletes also join the team in Jaycee Burghart (Cloud County CC) and Payton Nutter (Concordia-St. Paul).

2019 & 2020 SEASON REWIND …
>> In 2019, Washburn completed its second-straight season ranked as a top-five team in the AVCA national final rankings as the Ichabods checked in at No. 5 in all of Division II.
>> The team finished the season 27-4 and 18-2 in MIAA matches with their only two losses of the regular season coming against Nebraska-Kearney.
>> Washburn started the season undefeated through nine matches while only suffering one set loss amid eight 3-0 sweep victories.
>> The Ichabods were awarded the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Tournament and swept their quarterfinal game against Pittsburg State before falling in five to Central Missouri in the semifinal.
>> Washburn earned its 15th trip to the NCAA Tournament and was tabbed as the six-seed in the Central Region and played against the three-seed and No. 3 nationally-ranked Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears in the quarterfinals.
>> CSP won sets one and three and WU claimed sets two and four to send it to the deciding fifth, which the Golden Bears won  15-8 ultimately ending the Ichabods' season.
>> Although the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MIAA teams agreed to a shortened conference-only schedule in the spring of 2021 to have the opportunity to compete.
>> Official statistics were not kept, but the competition level remained high and the Ichabods finished with a mark of 14-5 and recorded 11 sweep victories.

TAKE A LOOK AHEAD …
>> Washburn returns home for a Tuesday matchup against rival Emporia State on Sept. 21 before closing out the week at Central Missouri on Sept. 25.